Lanny Davis on the Connecticut Blog Swarm

Now that the smoke has cleared from the Connecticut primary, we would do well to scrutinize more closely the leftist blog network which so famously overpowered Joseph Lieberman. The efficiency of its attacks bespeaks a degree of coordination which fashionable techno-clichés about the blogosphere’s “emergent” “hive mind” fail to explain.

Consider this anecdote which Democrat operative Lanny Davis shared on the op-ed page of The Wall Street Journal:

“A friend of mine just returned from Connecticut, where he had spoken on several occasions on behalf of Joe Lieberman. He happens to be a liberal antiwar Democrat, just as I am. He is also a lawyer. He told me that within a day of a Lamont event–where he asked the candidate some critical questions–some of his clients were blitzed with emails attacking him and threatening boycotts of their products if they did not drop him as their attorney. He has actually decided not to return to Connecticut for the primary today; he is fearful for his physical safety.”(1)

Gentle reader, consider the investigative expertise and the level of coordination necessary to identify the corporate clients of a particular lawyer and target those clients with a massive e-mail campaign within 24 hours. This is not the work of amateurs.

by Richard Poe
August 11, 2006 11:23 PM ET

Cross-posted from ShadowParty.com 08.11.06

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NOTES

1. Lanny J. Davis, “Liberal McCarthyism“, The Wall Street Journal, 8 August 2006